Computerised fingerprint grading could increase forensic accuracy

‘People leave behind all kinds of fingerprints, and the job of a forensic examiner is then to look at a fingerprint and identify a person who could have left it,’ said Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Penn State. ‘Various scenarios can be envisioned where a fingerprint can be seriously altered. Once it is altered, it can conceivably lead the examiner to a false conclusion.’

Fingerprints usually undergo environmental weathering and smudging. The condition of a fingerprint affects how reliable a match can be between a collected print and prints on record. Knowing a fingerprint’s dependability can minimize the chance of a wrongful or delayed conviction.

Lakhtakia’s team created a process using three inexpensive computer programs to grade a fingerprint for the availability of ridge detail for subsequent identification. Computerised grading ensures standardized evaluation to a degree finer than any human can accomplish and results of the research at Penn State have been published Forensic Science International.